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Study quantifies enforcement of EU Timber Regulation

A study for the European Commission summarises the checks that Competent Authorities in Europe have performed to verify compliance with the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), as well as any enforcement actions taken.

by UNEP-WCMC

The study, by the UN Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre, covers June to November 2017. It is based on survey responses provided by Competent Authorities in 20 countries that are either EU Member States or non-EU members of the European Economic Area.

The report distinguishes between checks on ‘operators’ that first place timber products on the market and ‘traders’ that buy or use timber products already on the market.

Domestic operators: Twelve countries performed a total of 499 checks on 467 domestic operators. Six of these countries identified a total of 37 operators with unsatisfactory due diligence systems.

Importing operators: Nineteen countries performed a total of 406 checks on 388 importing operators. Seventeen countries identified a total of 156 operators with unsatisfactory due diligence systems.

Traders: Eleven countries performed a total of 300 checks on traders dealing with domestic timber and 177 checks on traders dealing with imported timber. Other than Hungary and Poland, all countries were satisfied that traders had appropriate traceability systems.

One country, Croatia, reported not having performed any checks. Poland was the only country reporting that they checked monitoring organisations, all three of which met the EUTR’s requirements. Seven countries reported having received a total of 105 substantiated concerns, all of which were followed up on with checks.

The report also summarises 20 court cases brought in relation to EUTR compliance in seven countries. Of the 17 cases that have concluded so far, 13 were in favour of the Competent Authority.

Read the full study:

UNEP-WCMC, 2018.

Overview of Competent Authority EU Timber Regulation checks, June-November 2017. Statistics of checks performed by EU Member States and EEA countries to enforce the implementation of the EU Timber Regulation.

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